First, the good news: Maryland and Virginia celebrated some new COVID-19 milestones on Monday.
In the commonwealth, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that . And Maryland has .
As of Monday, over 55% of all U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, .
But there is new concern that amid the lifting of health restrictions nationwide, the highly infectious COVID-19 variant, called Delta, could cause a new surge in cases in the U.S. 鈥� and derail employers鈥� and school districts鈥� plans for the fall 鈥� if vaccinations lag.
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb Sunday that Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, in particular, show 鈥渧ery substantial upsurges of infections鈥� due to .
And Dr. David Agus, a CBS 太子探花 medical contributor, told WTOP Monday that the Delta variant will spread rampantly in such states.
In addition to fewer vaccinations, another factor aiding the spread is that kids younger than 12 can鈥檛 get a shot yet, because COVID vaccines have yet to be approved for use on them. While it has been harder for the virus to be transmitted by children, Agus said, 鈥漞verything is out the window鈥� when it comes to the Delta variant.
鈥淲hat we’re seeing in other countries is that younger individuals are getting sick and transmitting the virus,鈥� Agus told Debra Feinstein and Mark Lewis. 鈥溾�� And they are a conduit for spread with the Delta variant.鈥�
Agus said he hopes vaccine trials on younger kids are completed before the end of the summer so they, too, can get vaccinated.
鈥淚t is critical, the more people we vaccinate, the less this will spread and the less mayhem that will cause,鈥� he said.
As he sees it, the nation is letting its guard down. The variant, which originated in India, will quickly become the dominant strain in the U.S. over the next three to four weeks, as it has in other countries already.
鈥淎nd with ease of spread,鈥� Agus said, 鈥淚’m worried that the numbers may go back up.鈥�
You can check out Agus’ live hit with Deb and Mark below.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: | |
